Resilient vehicle wheel



J. A; BRENNAN.

RESILIENT VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED sPT.7,192o

Patented Feb. 7

views entre stares revisar oesscs- JOHN A. BRENNAN, or NEWYORK, N. Y.

incassa.

To @ZZ whom t mayV coacem i y v Beit known that l, JOHN A. BRENNAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New been proposed. f

- Vfth'these and :other objects in view the invention consists in .thevnovel, "details of construction and .combinations of parts more fullyhereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.l

- Referring to theaccompanying drawings forming apart of this.specification in which like numerals designate like parts in all theFigure V1 vis a diagrammatic' side elevational view partly in. section,of a wheel made in accordance with this invention; Y

F igureI 2 is a :li-'a'gramniatie vertical sec- Ational vviewon anenlarged scale of one of the anti-frictiondevices with which the 'endsofthe spring members areprovided;

Figure 2l isa diagrammatic vertical sectional view of 'one of theanti-friction slide members associatedrwith the mid portion of 'thespring members; and

' Figure 1 is a cross sectional view taken on the line-47% ofFig'ure l'.i i Y i1 indicates any suitable *hub "structure inte which are vtted thespokes '2; carrying on their outer ends lthe rim member '3, aswill beclear4 from Figure 1;""4 designatesfan outer-Trim provided with,thefsolid or other 45 tire 5f and normally adapted to be mounted 'iVconcentrically with the inner rim 3 as shown. `Interposed"'between thesaid inner rim 8 and the outer rim 4 area plurality of main j *springconnections 6, symmetrically avrranged around the circumference ofthesaid rims;A and associated therewith between adjacent main spring'members are a plurality of auxiliarysprings 7 as will be clear from thedrawings. 5 5 Y The main spring members 6 comprise a specification tfLetters Patent. Patientd .Application-filed September 7,'1920.- SerialNo. 408,513.

RnsILrEN'r vnrrrcitr. WHEEL.

nena, 19221 suitable leaf orother spring 8 secured in any desired manneras at`9 to vber 1(l.provided withball, roller or other anti-frictionbearings l1 and adapted to move laterally withiny the housing or ways12, which housing is rigidly connected to a sliding memleo the outer.rim 14. The said housing'preferably takesthe form of a hollow box likestructureas will'be clear from Figures l land' I 3, and preferably'carries at each of its ends `a suitable buffer or lcushioning 'means-13,". such, for example, 'as a rubber i `or' other suitablemernb'ers. y

',The members .13, as willfbe readily'apparent, `are adapted toy cushionthe .moven pad,aspring, 7

ment of the slidvef l0V in eitherfdirection. y

.end lof the spring members 8 carries a sliding member'rl mounted formovement withinthe casing 1'6, suitably 'secured las Iby theblocks 17 t'the inner rim 4 (see Figure l.) Thesaid casing'16 ,isi

preferably Y l square or rectangular .in cross section, and 1s open atoneend and closedat the other.

The lsaid casing is preferably provided at its closed end :with asuitable buiier mem-V` bery 18 such, for example, as la block of 'rubberor Vother resilient material, which bufferV :ggf

Imeinber is adapted to'l cushion the inward Vmovement of the. slidememb'err15 as will be l v '8-5 vreadily apparent. Y,

The said slidev member ispreferably provided with suitable anti-frictionbearings 19 aswill be clear from the drawings. l

The auxiliary spring zmembers7 are or maybe, similar nconstruction tothe main '90 spring members just described, `and are illustrated as'comprising leaf springs 20 tion' to a 'slidemember ,2l-adapted foralateral movement'ina planelatright angles vvto the wheel axle'i'nhousing 22" 'which housingff is Vprovided with suitable `,resilient 13carried vby the housings '12. 'l

wise provided vwith sliding members 25 ,mountedf in suitable housings'26" which rlhe free'end's ofthe springs 20 are llikerigidly fasteningaty or near their -midporn cushion-members 23 simila' "tothe members fhousings 26 are suitablysecur'ed to the outer rimv i as for example, bymeans of the` blocks 27' shown in Figure 1. 'The'housings l26arellikewise providedv with suitable buffer members 28' similar to,the'members' 18 carried bythe housings 16.

l vAs above stated, a plurality of the main Y.

spring members 6 are arrangedl around the periphery of the Wheel insymmetrical rela tion and each of the said main s rms' mem- Vbers hasassociated with it a suitable stop or builer mechanism adapted to limitthe spring action of the members. ln the form ot the invention hereillustrated this buffer mechanism comprises a pendulous member S0pivotally secured Yas at 3l to a projection 32 carried by the inner rim3 and the outer surface oi the said member 30 is preferably curved asshown, and provided With the rubber or other buiier member 33 adaptedunder certain conditions to contact with and limit the movement of thespring member 6, as willV presently appear.

lt will be noted that the members SO being pendulously mounted -from therim 3 'will .always tend to hang in a vertical position when at thelovvermo'st part of their travel, whereas, during the vupper pats oftheir travel they will tend to fall from a radial position. ln order tolimit the amount ot their movement about their pivots S1 suitable stopvmembers 35 having buifers 36 may be associated with the blocks 32carried by the inner rim 3.

ln order to prevent side motion of one rim With respect to the other ina direction parallel to the Wheel axle While at the same time permittingrelative motion between the twoprims in directions at right angles tothe said Wheel axle, there is provided a plurality of slidable 'platescomprising channel shaped members et() rigid With the said inner rim 3,as best shown in Figure l, and associated With each of said channelshaped members is an Vanti-friction bearing member el rigid with theouter rim e and provided with a plurality of anti-friction members orballs l2 (see Fig. 1). lt will be readily apparent from thisconstruction that Vall Vmotion in a direc-tion parallelto the Wheel axleWill be prever tech while at the same time a certain amount of motionnecessary in devicesV oi this type Will be permitted in planes rightangles to the said Wheel axle.

li desired, the resilient mechanism comprising the main spring devices 6and the auxiliary spring devices 7, the pendulous members 30 and themembers i0 for preventing lateral motion may be covered and protectedfrom dirt, dust, etc., by means oi a suitable 'flexiblej'or resilientcovering 4:5, suitably securedy to the inner rim 3 and the outer rim d,as Will be clear from Figure V1.

rlhe operation of this said Wheel will be clear from the foregoing, butmay be briefly summarized as follows:

Su ose the arts be in the 1aositions illustrated in Figure l with theWeight of the vehicle resting upon the inner rim 3, the lower springmember 6 will be placed under tension, causing the slidable members l5carried by its ends, to move upwardly Within their vcasings lGuntil thesaid members l5 well as the arrangement strike against the buffers 18carried Within said casing 16 above disclosed. The pendulous member 30being` at its lowest point oi' travel, will hang vertical so that themid portion of the spring 6 will 'contact with the resilient member' 33carried thereby, and thus limit the amount of spring hadV from themember 6.

YIn like mannen'as the vehicle moves for- Ward, the load Will betransmitted from the lovver'most spring 6 to the auxiliary spring member7 adjacent thereto, and then to the next main spring member 6, all in amanner as Will be readily apparent.

t is obvious that those skilled inl the art may vary the details ofconstruction as of: parts Without departing from the spirit ot theinvention, and therefore, l do notY vvish to be limited to the abovedisclosure except as may be required by the claims.

lhatl claim is: e

l. ln a resilient vehicle Wheel the combi. nation of an inner rim; anouter rim normally concentric with saidV inner rim; a plurality of mainresilient members mounted between said rims and having slidableconnection therewith; auxiliary resilient members having slidingconnection with said inner and outer rims,'mounted;between adjacent mainresilient members; pivoted means carried by said inner rim adapted tolimit the movement oi said main resilient-members; and means rigid withsaid rims adapted to permit of eccentricity between them but to preventrelative motion between them in a direction parallel to the Wheel axis,substantially as described.v f

2. ln a resilient vehicle Wheel the combination of an inner rim ;V anouter rim normally concentric With said inner rim; a plurality of slidemembers carried by said outer rim; a spring carried by each of saidslide members; a plurality of casings carried by said inner rim;slidable members carried by the ends ot said springs and, adapted tooperate Within saidcasings; means adapted to permit of eccentricitybetween said rims but to prevent relative motion between them in' adirection parallel to the Wheel axis; and pendulous means carried bysaidinner rim adapted to limit the motion of said springs',substantially as described.

3. ln a resilient vehicle Wheel the combination of aninner rim; an outerrim normally concentric With said inner rim; a plurality of slidemembers carried by said vouter rim; a spring carried by each of saidslide members; a plurality of casings carried by said inner rim;slidable members VVcarried by the ends of said springs and adapted tooperate Within said casings; a plurality of slide members carried bysaid inner rim; auxiliary springs carried by each of said lastmontiei'lod 'slide members; a plurality of housings carriedV by saidouter rim; slide blocks carried by the ends of said auxiliary springsadapted to operate in said housings; means adapted to permitofeccentrieity between said rims but to prevent relative motion betweenVthem in a direction parallel to the Wheel axis; and pendulous meanscarried by said inner rim adapted to limit the motion of said springs,substantially as described.

4. In a resilient vehicle Wheel the combination of an inner rim; anouter rim normally concentric with said inner rim; a plurality of slidemembers carried by said outer rim; a spring carried by each of saidslide members; a plurality of casings carried by said inner rim;slidable members carried by the ends of said springs and adapted tooperate within said casings; a plurality of slide members carried bysai-d inner rim; auxiliary springs carried by each of said lastmentioned members; a plurality of housings carried by said outer rim;slide blocks carried by the ends of said auxiliary springs adapted tooperate in said housings; means adapted to permit of eccentricitybetween said rims but to prevent relative m0- tion between them in adirection parallel to the Wheel axis; pendulous means carried by, saidinner rim adapted to limit the motion of s aid springs; and meansadapted to limit the swing of said pendulous means, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

JOHN A. BRENNAN.

